A video of a white man confronting a black woman at the Westin Pasadena on Monday, asking if she and her 5-year-old daughter had showered before using the pool, has gone viral.

The video was posted to Facebook on Wednesday by the woman targeted, Carle Wheeler. In the post, Wheeler said the encounter began when he approached the pair and told her “people carry diseases into the pools and he doesn’t want the health department to shut the pool down.”

“Minutes later he approached us again on the opposite end of the pool under the pretense that he worked for the health department,” Wheeler wrote. “At that point I called BS and I confronted him on what appeared to be blatant racism. I let him know that being black is not a disease and showering would not wash the BLACK off our skin.”

She began recording after a hotel employee had arrived to handle the situation.

The man, who has yet to be identified, was another guest at the hotel.

A hotel spokesman issued the following statement: “The Westin Pasadena strives to provide a welcoming environment to all individuals. Harassment on any basis is not tolerated. We are continuing to investigate this serious matter and deeply regret that one of our guests experienced this type of behavior.”

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In the video, an employee whom Wheeler identified as Ofelia Dolliver attempted to mediate the matter.

The man told Dolliver, “I simply asked them if they showered. I’m sorry. That’s part of the rules, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m tired of getting into pools that people consider baths.”

Wheeler responded, “You didn’t ask anyone else.”

The man began repeating, “You were the only one in the pool.”

Wheeler replied, “There are plenty of other people in the goddamn pool. … There are three other people over there. You didn’t ask them. They’re over there right now.”

The man said, “So what? Relax.”

The exchange continued to escalate, and Dolliver told the man, “I think it was inappropriate” for him to ask the question.

At that point, the man looked into the camera and said, “Google it. Google the diseases in pools.”

Sprayberry then arrived and asked the man to leave. Wheeler asked Sprayberry why he would release the man without knowing who he is, and Sprayberry told her to go enjoy the pool and that he would speak to the man, who had walked away.

In her Facebook post, Wheeler wrote: “Only after speaking with the white bystanders who corroborated our story did Mr. Sprayberry instruct the other hotel managers to review the tapes to find the man he had just let go! Upon our departure from the hotel Ms. Dolliver apologized to us and admitted that Mr. Sprayberry handled the situation incorrectly. She said they were ‘still reviewing the tapes’ to find the man and remove him from the hotel. No follow up had been made by anyone from the Westin Hotel since.”

Wheeler did not respond to a request for comment, but she posted a follow-up video on Thursday to address the matter.

“God calls us to love him with our whole heart, mind and soul, and it’s equally important for us to love our neighbors,” she said. “These men showed us no love. … We were upset, hurt and disappointed by their actions, but no matter how many times we fail God, he still loves us.”

She added, “It’s just sad that in 2018, we are still dealing with these issues and still having to teach our children things that people had to teach their children in the ’50s and ’60s. Nothing has changed.”

Hayley Munguia covers Long Beach City Hall for the Southern California News Group. She previously worked as a data reporter for FiveThirtyEight and has written for The Week, the Jerusalem Post and the Austin American-Statesman, among other publications. She's originally from Austin, graduated from NYU and will pet a dog any chance she gets.

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